


Stray

by Em_313



Series: Daisy [8]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Allergies, Cats, Children, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Jack is a good dad, Sneezing, Twins, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-14 16:50:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16916640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_313/pseuds/Em_313
Summary: “C’mon, Ace, ya took care of a couple dozen stray newsboys. You must have somethin’ in ya heart for a stray kitten."Jack and his three-year-old daughter are in love with the cat they’ve found. Kat's not so sure.





	1. Chapter 1

**September 1906**

**Daisy 3 ½ , Elliot and Benji 9 months**

Jack and Daisy were supposed to come back from their walk with fall leaves. They returned with a kitten.

“Mama! Look-it!” Daisy shouted.

“Shh, the babies are asleep.” Kat said. She looked up from her book and saw something squirming under Jack’s arm.

“For the love of all that is good, Jack Kelly, what is that?”

“It’s a cat.” He said. “We found it under a bush. Almost stepped on ‘er. She’s just a baby.” Jack held the kitty between his hands. She was a just few months old with hungry, shiny green eyes and matted black and grey fur.

Katherine shook her head. “I’ve never had animals around children before, Jack. Surely we can’t keep it.”

“She’s a girl and her name is Baby.” Daisy declared.

“C’mon, Ace, ya took care of a couple dozen stray newsboys.” Jack said. “You must have somethin’ in ya heart for a stray kitten. Look it how skinny it is.”

“I’ll get it some milk, I suppose.” Katherine said. “Get it cleaned up first. In the bathroom, please, not the kitchen. And don’t let it near the babies til you’re sure it doesn’t have fleas or—or rabies—or--or —something.”

Katherine crossed her arms and watched Daisy follow Jack and the kitten to the bathroom.

Jack knelt next to the tub, filled it with a couple inches of water and slowly lowered the kitten in. Daisy and Katherine watched from the door. Kitty squirmed and mewed loudly.

“Goodness!” Kat exclaimed.

Jack rubbed the cat’s head with the very tip of his index finger. “For such a little thing you have an awful loud voice, don’t ya?” He was so gentle and patient. Kitty’s fur softened and the bathwater turned grey. She licked Jack’s fingers with her pink tongue.

“Baby Racetrack Purple Sparkles Kelly.” Daisy said. “That’s a good name, right, Mama?”

“ _Htz-Choo!_ ” Katherine responded. “ _Ahh-choo!_ ” She sniffled and rubbed her nose with the heel of her hand.

Daisy looked up at her. “Are you sick, mama?”

“No I don’t think so. I’m f-f-f--fine.” She sneezed again.

“Oh no.” Jack muttered. “Ace?”

“What?”

“Are you ‘llergic to cats?” Jack didn’t really understand Katherine’s allergies but he knew better than to buy her flowers.

“I...I’m not sure.” Kat said. “I’ve never really been around them. My parents never particularly liked animals.” She sniffled and handed Jack a towel.

Jack gently wrapped the kitten up until just its face peeped out, wide eyes looking around the small bathroom. Daisy came to Jack’s side and stroked the cat’s head.

“Hi, Baby.” She said. “That was your first bath ever. You did good.”

“Good job being gentle, Days.” Jack said. Kitty closed her eyes. Kat sneezed.

 

Daisy spent the whole evening fawning over the kitten. _Baby has green eyes. Baby’s paw is the same size as Daddy’s finger. Baby yawned! Baby climbed on the chair! Baby needs some of my dinner._

Jack coaxed the cat to sleep on his chest and tried to come up with a more interesting name than Baby. “Coal or cinder cause you’re so dark. Or Galaxy. Do you like Galaxy, Days? Like the stars? Maybe Bean cause you just a little bean.”

The twins didn’t know what to make of the creature. Elliot cried every time the kitten made a noise within 10 feet of him. Benji, two minutes younger and more adventurous than his brother, crawled after it. The two did laps up the couch and down the chair and eventually to Jack, who laughed, tickled the baby, and let the kitten swat at his fingers.  

“They’re _both_ babies!” Daisy laughed. She spun herself in circles and followed the pair on their endless obstacle course.

Katherine stood at the edge of the parlor with red eyes and frightened Elliot in her arms, watching it all. “It’s going to scratch them, Jack! Careful!”

Jack was laughing, tickling Daisy--who had been rambling about this cat for hours now--and teasing the kitten.

Katherine fixed dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and got the kids ready for bed in between sneezing fits.

Despite Daisy’s insistence on Baby sleeping with her, the kitten spent the night in the pantry. They set down a bed of blankets and towels, gave her a bowl of water, and shut the door.

_Merowwww! Meorwwwww! Merowww!_

Daisy appeared at her bedroom door in tears. “Baby’s scared!”

Katherine turned to her husband. “Jack, we cannot keep this damn cat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My good friends just adopted a 1.5 pound ball of black fuzz named Clover and I'm in love. I'll continue this sometime soon with who the kitty ends up with! Thanks for reading, friends! Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finds a new home for the kitten.

That night wasn’t a restful one in the Kelly house.

Katherine was almost asleep when her bedroom door creeped open. 

“Daisy?” She mumbled. “You alright?” 

_ Merowwww!  _

Katherine sat up. Beady eyes looked up at her in the darkness as the cat tried to claw its way up the side of the bed. 

“Oh no.” She said. “Oh hell no.” She shook Jack’s shoulder, but he didn’t wake up. 

_ Merowwww!  _

“Jack. Jack!” Katherine slapped his chest. 

“Uh!” he grunted. “I’m awake.” He squinted at her, bleary eyed and frowning. 

“Daisy let the cat out.” Katherine whispered. “Go put it back.” 

He stumbled out of bed and scooped it up. “Com’ere, bean.” he muttered.

“Daddy, no!” Daisy ran into the hallway. “Baby was scared.” 

_ Merowwww!  _

Jack heard stirring in the boys’ room and silently prayed they wouldn’t wake up. 

“Days, go to bed.” Jack said. 

She ran towards Jack, nightgown fluttering, and stood on her toes to try to pet the cat. “But--” 

“Daisy.” he said, more firmly this time. “The cat makes Mama sneeze, and Elliot’s scared of it. And we don’t want it to get into everythin’ while we’s sleepin’ and make a mess.” 

“She won’t make a mess. She’s good.” 

“Baby’s got food and water and a nice bed in the pantry.” He said. “It’ll be okay until the morning. Now  _ go to bed.  _ It’s late.” 

She stuck out her bottom lip. “Night night, Baby Sparkles Racetrack.” She said. 

Jack sighed and bent down so she could kiss the cat’s head goodnight. “I know,  _ a mhuirnin (uh wer-neen, darling or sweetie).  _ I love this dumb cat too.” he stood up and gave his daughter a little shove towards her bedroom. “Goodnight.” 

As anyone could’ve predicted, the cat screamed again as soon as Jack shut the door.  Daisy couldn’t get back to sleep and crawled into bed with Jack and Katherine. The cat eventually yelled itself out and fell asleep, but not before the noise woke Elliot, and because the twins shared a crib, Elliot woke Benji. 

Daisy took up a lot of room for being so little--arms and legs and a halo of blonde curls sprawled out in the middle of her parents’ bed. She rolled over and a stuffed bunny smacked Jack in the face. 

“Okay.” He mumbled. “I’m awake, I guess.” 

He sat up to find Katherine’s side of the bed empty and wandered into the twins’ nursery. 

Katherine sat in the rocking chair with a sleepy baby on each knee. 

“Hey.” Jack whispered. He sat down on the foot stool. 

“You get crowded out?” Kat asked, and handed him Benji. 

“Yeah.” He said. The baby laid his head on Jack’s shoulder. 

Katherine sniffled and rubbed her nose with the heel of her hand. “Ugh.”

“‘Ey, Ace, I’m awful sorry. ‘Bout the cat. I...I got carried away.” He chewed on his lip. “How was I ‘possed to know it’d make ya sick? And I ain’t thinkin’ bout the boys at all and that was stupid.” 

“It’s just in your nature to take in strays, babe.” He gave her an impish half-smile. 

 

 

Jack set out first thing the first morning to ask his brothers who wanted a kitten. 

“Can’t have pets in my apartment.” Charlie said. “You knows how hard it was to find somethin’ safe for me to get around wit’out breakin’ the bank. I ain’t doin’ a thing to risk gettin’ kicked out now.” 

A few blocks later, Race shook his head too. “Sorry, bud.” He said.  “Think my dog would treat it like a chew toy. ‘Sides, Lydia will murder me if I even think about adding anything to our plates before the baby’s born.”  

Specs, Tommy, Mike, Ike, and Finch shared a two-bedroom walkup and invited Jack in for a cup of coffee. But they laughed when Jack suggested a kitten. “We’s all workin’ too damn much to keep track of it, Jackie.” Specs told him. They all worked in construction or down in the shipyards since they’d outgrown newspapers. 

“We’s 21, 22 years old and livin’ three to a room.” Tommy added. “Do we look like we can afford another mouth to feed?” 

Jack had a feeling Katherine might not let him come home if he didn’t have a plan for this cat. So he hopped on a streetcar to Davey’s new place. 

Newlyweds Davey and Rebecca beamed as soon as Jack hesitantly offered them the kitten. 

“I always had cats growing up.” Rebecca said. “I was just telling David the other day that we should get a pet of some sort.”

“Great.” Jack said. “Any chance you’d want to come get it, like, um, now?” 

As soon as the trio returned to Jack’s house, they were greeted by the twins, Daisy, and the kitten climbing at their feet. “Kath, good news!” Jack called. He picked up Elliot; Daisy grabbed his leg and Benji crawled behind them. He thumped across the apartment to find his wife.“Davey and Rebecca would love to take the kitten today.”  

Katherine insisted Davey and Rebecca stay for lunch. They hadn’t seen each other since the wedding in July. Jack and Davey laughed and caught up; Rebecca and Katherine each bounced a baby and watched Daisy treat the kitten like one of her baby dolls. 

“Daisy, love?” Jack asked. “I left my water on the table and don’t want to bother your mama. Could you go get it for me with two hands, please?” 

The three-year-old listened and carried the glass with both hands, but somewhere in the ten steps to her father she lost her balance. The glass slipped from her hand and shattered. Davey, Katherine, and Benji jumped.

“It’s alright, Daisy.” Katherine picked her up. “It was an accident, love.” 

The cat didn’t look up from scratching at the couch, and Rebecca, who was Deaf, only noticed something was wrong when all three of the children burst into tears. 

As Jack swept up the shards of glass, the kitten wandered over curiously and lapped at the small puddle of water. 

“Did...did you all notice the cat didn’t blink when the glass broke?” Davey asked. “That’s not...not typical. I would’ve thought she’d run.” 

Rebecca’s face spread into a slow smile, then she laughed. “How about that, David?” She asked loudly. “A Deaf wife and a Deaf cat!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure this turned out as good on paper as it was in my head, but let me know what you think! I introduced Davey's smart, opinionated, fashionable Deaf girlfriend/wife Rebecca and Race's shy, bookish girlfriend/wife Lydia in my piece about Jack and Kat's New Year party, and it was fun to come back to them briefly. Thanks for reading, friends <3

**Author's Note:**

> My good friends just adopted a 1.5 pound ball of black fuzz named Clover and I'm in love. I'll continue this sometime soon with who the kitty ends up with! Thanks for reading, friends! Let me know what you think!


End file.
